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| In what was going to be a three game series over the opening weekend was reduced to a sunday doubleheader. Austin won game one and Ozarks took the night cap as both teams opened 1-1 for the 2021 season. University of Ozarks athletics photo |
It was a light weekend of baseball but after 200+ days with the teams off the field, it was a welcome sight. Piedmont opened with an impressive victory over Oglethorpe, Louisiana College took 3 of 4 from Alma and Austin split with Ozarks in the opening weekend action.
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Senior Jaret Koin broke the Alma program's career |
In the long awaited return of baseball, it didn't take long for Piedmont to accumulate runs as the Lions coasted to an 11-2 win over Oglethorpe Friday. Piedmont opened with a six run first inning and continued to pour on the offense throughout the evening. Sam Carpenter impressed in his encore senior season coming one short of a career-high with 12 strikeouts in seven innings. The Piedmont offense had four extra base hits as Carter Ballstadt had two doubles, Zach Swindell added a double and Ethan Darrow recorded a triple. The final two games of the series were postponed due to weather.
In Saturday's opener for both Louisiana College and Alma, the Scots got off to a good start in the top of first with two runs thanks to three straight hits to lead it off. The Scots were able to add on two in the second and then two more in the third. At that point, the Scots led 6-2. LC would use a big fifth and sixth inning to take a commanding lead and win the opening game of the season. In game two, the Wildcats were the ones to get off to an early lead and the Scots were playing catch up for the rest of the contest. The big hit in the opening frame was Hunter David's first dinger of the year, scoring three. LC's Beau Freeman and Alma's Avery Carnic also homered in the nightcap.
On Sunday, the LC Wildcats took advantage of some early erratic pitching by the Alma starter to jump out on top with three runs in the first inning. Two out hits were key for the Wildcats in doubling the lead in the second and by the end of three led 8-0. Alma outscored LC 4-2 in the late innings but could not overcome the early deficit. In game two, Alma earned a 5-3 win. Jaret Koin got the scoring going with a two-run home run in the third inning. The Scots continued to show their power with a home runs from Avery Carnicom and Alex Dwan in the fourth to make it 4-1 in favor of the Scots. Carnicom then drove Koin in on a two-out single to make it 5-1.
Austin scored two runs in extra innings to hand the Eagles a season-opening 7-5 loss Sunday. The Eagles trailed for most of the game, but tagged the Kangaroos for four runs in the bottom of the fifth inning. However, the Kangaroos got both runs back in the sixth to tie the game 4-4. Both teams scored a run in the seventh that pushed the seventh-inning contest into extras where Austin College plated two runs on just one hit in the top of the eighth. The first run came on a bases loaded walk and the second came on a balk. The Eagles scored the game-winning run on an Austin error in the bottom of the sixth to complete a 5-4 comeback win in game two. Austin plated three runs in the first inning against starter Blake Benson. The Eagles scored once in the first and three in the fifth to push the Eagles in front 4-3. Austin tied the score in the top of the sixth setting up the walkoff win.